


Please Don't Hate Me

by TheBigLoserQueen



Series: Incubus AU [33]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Succubi & Incubi, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Human, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Underage Sex, Past Violence, Slash, Slavery, Slaves, Succubi & Incubi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-08
Updated: 2016-03-08
Packaged: 2018-05-25 11:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6193786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBigLoserQueen/pseuds/TheBigLoserQueen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sally doesn't think Breakdown likes her, so Knock Out has her solve the issue herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Please Don't Hate Me

Knock Out didn't have to be a mind reader to see that Breakdown wasn't comfortable whenever Sally was around. Though he didn't really understand why. She wasn't doing anything she hated. She happily did the cooking and the cleaning and the laundry whenever it came up. Never once had she complained about it. Hell, she was the one asking if there was anything for her to do when she wasn’t sewing something or practicing the harp in the back room.

Despite that though, Breakdown more or less avoided her. Not rudely, but he never tried to make a conversation with her first. And even when she did try to talk to him, he didn't really stick around too long to chat much.

It was a little ridiculous. Sally wasn't here against her will. Yes, she was legally his slave, wearing the necklace that marked her as such, but he wasn't making her do anything she didn't want to do. He didn't tell her to clean or cook; she just did it on her own because she enjoyed it. She always got excited whenever they liked something she made to eat.

But Breakdown just wasn't loosening up. The idea of being technically in charge of a slave bothered him way too much. Now he couldn’t talk to her without remembering his past and how his shitty master had hurt him and his family.

Even Sally was starting to notice.

"Mister Knock Out?"

The incubus looked up from his work. This was the third time she had come into his study, though the first time she had actually spoke. The other two times she had walked in before rushing back out of here. He had thought she would just give up, but it was nice to know she would finally just let it out.

"What is it?" he asked, trying to keep his voice normal. He didn't want her knowing he suspected what the problem was.

"... Does... Is Mister Breakdown-?"

"Did you want to talk to him?"

She hesitated.

"Sally, tell me what's wrong. You'll make yourself sick with anxiety if you hold it in." His polite way of telling her to just spit it out already. If she told him now, then he could deal with it immediately. Her dancing around the subject would make it harder to deal with the issue at hand.

"... I don't think Mister Breakdown likes me."

Finally.

"Oh?"

"... H-He avoids me. A-And he doesn't seem to like talking to me."

"Have you told him that?"

"... No."

"Why not?"

"B-Because!" Her voice hitched a bit, her hands grabbing her dress tightly. "H-He doesn't even wanna talk! S-So how can I talk to him about something like this?!"

Well, she did have point. Still, he didn't think she would be so upset about it... Then again, the poor girl probably never had to deal with a man who didn't like her. Though the men that did like her were scum and only liked one thing about her. Anyway it was though, she was used to attention. She was used to being liked and treated "kindly" by men, especially those who had owned her.

Breakdown was definitely throwing her a curveball here. And Knock Out knew it wasn't really her... She was a nice girl, if a little dumb and gullible. But she was still a slave. Just like Breakdown had been before he had run away and Knock Out had took him home. She was probably just evoking some bad memories for him by wearing that collar.

But he couldn't take it off of her. There was a lot of paperwork to go through if he decided to free her. A slave running around without a collar could easily be found and dragged back into the market. Besides, if he freed her and she wanted to leave, he couldn't stop her. And knowing how she was, she would probably just get picked up by more terrible men and be used like a toy. Maybe even killed. Or just get thrown back into the slavery again.

He rubbed his eyes. All right, it was time to just get this headache over with. Breakdown had a problem with Sally? He could work it out with her.

"He's in the bathroom," he said, turning back to his paperwork. "He's putting in new tiles on the bath's floor. He can't run away from you when he knows I want him in there all day to work."

"... Wh-What should I say?"

"Just tell him the truth. Ask him if he doesn't like you. As much as I'd love to help, this is an issue between the two of you. Now being a big girl and solve this like an adult."

Knock Out glanced over his shoulder to see her debating with herself. While he could, he wasn't about to order her to go confront his lover. That would just make things worse if Breakdown believed she was only talking to him because her master ordered her to. Not to mention the other would get angry and he wasn't in the mood to deal with that.

But finally, he saw Sally nod to herself and walk out of the study, closing the door gently behind her. Primus, he prayed this would be over with soon. Honestly though, he was just glad he wouldn't have to deal with it.

* * *

Sally peered into the bathroom. She could see Breakdown working on the tiles in the empty bath, his back turned to her. She bit her lip and looked around. It really did seem like he had a bit left to do… and since Knock Out didn’t want him to leave until it was finished, this really was the perfect time to get him to stay and listen. 

She wished she knew what she had done to make him dislike her. Did he not like her cooking? Had he done the cleaning or the laundry wrong? She had had masters who wanted things done a certain way… maybe she wasn’t doing it right and that made him mad.

Slowly, she stepped into the room and made her way towards the large bath. He still had yet to look over at her, which she was all right with. She was still trying to gather her thoughts. Now that she was here, what should she say? Something that wouldn’t offend him, but still get her point across… But she couldn’t sound accusatory; her other masters got angry with their slaves if they ever held that sort of tone. She didn’t want to be hit. She hated pain.

She sat down on her knees when she came close to the bath’s edge. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, “Mister Breakdown?”

His shoulders jumped, jerking his head up to stare at her. Oh no, she had surprised him… But he didn’t look angry, thankfully. He just kept staring at her with wide eyes.

“… Sally?”

“Can we talk?” she asked, titling her head. “Mister Knock Out thinks we should.”

Knock Out… Breakdown bit the inside of his cheek. He should have figured his lover would have sent her to him. Damn it, he knew this was uncomfortable for him! Sally was just… There was nothing wrong with her, but she was a slave. Knock Out’s slave. Why couldn’t he understand how much he hated that?

Then again, Knock Out had never been a slave and, aside from him, he didn’t know anyone else who had been one. Hell, he was a noble incubus, for Primus’ sake. It wasn’t like he would get close to slaves on a regular basis. He had been the exception. And he supposed Sally was now one too.

Taking a deep breath, he said, “About what?”

“Well…”

Now how was she going to address this? She had finally gotten his attention and he seemed to be willing to listen. But she didn’t want to make him upset. Though she had never seen him mad before, she had seen her previous masters angry. And they were always violent when they got angry and would hit their servants. She didn’t like pain.

But Breakdown and Knock Out were nice to her. So maybe he wouldn’t hit her, even if he got a little angry… Besides, she had a little bit of room to run if she did make him mad. She could probably make it back to her room before he reached her. And since they let her put a lock on her door, she could lock it and hide until his anger went away and she wouldn’t have to get hit.

“Mister Breakdown?

“What?”

“How come you don’t like me?”

Breakdown didn’t respond. He could only stare at her with wide eyes, unsure if he had heard correctly. Didn’t like her? Who said he didn’t like her? How the hell did she even come up with that?! Sally was a nice girl, a good girl… Sure, she wasn’t the smartest person he had met, but that didn’t mean he didn’t like her.

Damn it, what the hell did Knock Out tell her to make her think he didn’t like her?

Sally bit her lip as he just continued to stare at her. Well, he didn’t look angry… but caught off guard. But since he wasn’t saying anything, she had to wonder if now he was just going to lie. Or walk away again. But she really, really wanted to know the truth! If she was doing something wrong, maybe she could fix it! She didn’t want to have one of her masters hate her because if he did, Knock Out might just send her back to the market. 

She didn’t want to go back. They were nice to her here. Nicer than any other master had been to her. She had her own room and they let her decorate it however she wanted. If she wanted something, she only had to ask and Knock Out would get it for her. And it wasn’t like her other masters who would get her things. They didn’t really get her things she wanted. They only got her dresses they wanted to see her in. Still nice, but not like Knock Out was.

She didn’t think she would ever have another master who was as kind as him. And she liked Breakdown too… He taught her how to read and write when Knock Out couldn’t. He always complimented her cooking too. Though it was weird that neither of them wanted to have sex with her like her other masters, Knock Out especially… he was an incubus and she knew he would use Breakdown to feed, so why not her too?

Well, she had asked once and he already explained to her that he didn’t buy her for that sort of thing. Not that she really understood, but she accepted his reasons regardless.

But it made her think that maybe Breakdown was jealous of her? Knock Out and he were clearly more than just an incubus and a meal… Maybe he was being standoffish because he thought they were having sex. If that was the case, then no wonder he was angry with her! She would have been mad too if she were in his shoes.

“Mister Breakdown,” she said, moving to sit down on the edge above the bath. “If you’re worried about me and Mister Knock Out having sex, we’re not!”

“Woah, woah, no, Sally-!” Damn it, that was not what he wanted to imagine! And why did she come to that conclusion?! “Sally, I’m not worried about that.”

“You’re not?”

“No!”

“Oh. Then why don’t you like me?”

“ _Why_ do you think that?” he demanded, suddenly finding himself exhausted as he walked up to her.

“Because you never seem to wanna talk to me,” she said, looking down at her toes. “You don’t seem to like being around me. And when we do talk, you kind of just… leave in the middle of it to do stuff.”

Oh. Breakdown felt his shoulders slump as he suddenly dawned on him. He… really had been blowing her off, hadn’t he? He didn’t really talk to her. And even when he would teach her how to read and write, he didn’t really talk unless he had to. For the most part, he was just focused on creating distance between them. Being around her and seeing that collar on her neck just reminded him so much of his former life as a slave.

“If… If I’m doing something wrong, tell me and I’ll fix it! I promise, Mister Breakdown, I’ll do whatever you want! Just… please don’t hate me. Please?”

His heart sank when he saw that desperate look in her eyes. Damn it, Sally didn’t deserve this… She was a sweet girl and it wasn’t her fault she was a slave. It was just the collar. And all he could remember every time he saw that collar was his suffering. His siblings’ suffering. How they were beaten and forced to work in horrible condition. How his younger sister and brother were raped by their masters…

He didn’t want to remember. He didn’t want to remember being helpless and owned and abused. It didn’t matter that they had escaped… He still didn’t know where his siblings were. Dead, alive, in slavery, back with their former masters, he had no idea. And when he looked at Sally’s collar, it was a reminder of the pain and suffering he had to endure… and the lingering fear that he would never see his family again.

But that wasn’t her fault. She didn’t ask to be born into slavery, she didn’t ask Knock Out to buy her, she didn’t ask for him to see her collar and make him remember his past. She was just a young woman, stuck in a shitty situation… Though, he supposed that Knock Out was probably the best owner she could possibly have. He wasn’t abusive and he showered her with whatever she wanted. “Anything for his little pet” he would say…

“Sally.”

She perked up a bit, the anxious look still on her face.

Breakdown huffed and moved to sit down in front of her, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look, Sally… I don’t hate you.”

“Y-You don’t?”

He shook his head. “You’re a nice girl. You’re very sweet and I do like you. It’s just…” His eyes fell to her slave collar again and he found himself hesitating. How was he even supposed to phrase this? That her collar and the memories that came with it was what made him feel uncomfortable around her…

“It’s just… what, Mister Breakdown?”

He would have to just try his best to spit it out, it seemed.

“… I was a slave before, Sally.”

Her eyes widened. He figured she would be surprised… It wasn’t often a slave was able to get out of slavery, whether it was because they had escaped or their master set them free. She had probably never met a former slave before… or rather, didn’t realize she had met one before until now.

“Did Mister Knock Out own you?”

He shook his head.

“Then who did?”

“… Terrible people,” he murmured softly, unable to look at her. “You know the village up in the mountains? Greenyard?”

She nodded, her eyes still wide as a look of fear came over her. She clearly heard of this place… Of course, who hadn’t? The head elder of the village was notorious within in the slave community. Everyone that lived there aside from his soldiers and relatives were slaves. And they were treated horridly, beaten and tortured and raped for fun. It was practically a death sentence if you were bought by him.

And that was where he had lived with his siblings for nearly eight years. How they survived, even he wasn’t sure. Probably some twisted miracle… the same type of miracle that helped them escape in the first place, only for them to be separated when they were chased.

“You… You used to be a slave there?”

“Yeah… Along with my siblings.”

“Y-You’re not an only child?”

He shook his head. Right, he didn’t talk about his family, so of course she would have thought he didn’t have any brothers or sisters. “We lived there for… for eight years. And then we tried to escape after my younger brother had been… raped by a group of soldiers.” He glanced over at her, seeing the scared look on her face, but continued when she didn’t say anything. “We were able to get out, but they sent people after us. I got away, but I… I don’t know about my siblings. I don’t know if I ever will.”

Sally felt ready to cry. She knew about that awful place. She had a friend once, Maggie, who she was very close to when she lived in one of her older master’s house. But that master sold Maggie to the elder in Greenyard. She heard she had been beaten to death only a few months later.

She had feared being sold to that place one day. Any master would have been better than those people. And to think Breakdown and his family had to suffer through all that pain for so long…

“It’s not you, Sally,” he murmured softly, rubbing his eyes. “But your collar… Every time I see your collar… I remember. I remember what I had gone through. What my siblings had gone through.”

Sally reached up and touched the collar around her neck. It was one she had on and off her entire life. It had really meant nothing to her… Just a small trinket to mark her as someone else’s possession. And since she had been traded between the slave market and new masters so many times now, it was really nothing to her. And she hadn’t ever been abused and hurt like he had… but she could see why he didn’t want to talk to her.

“… Do I make you sad?”

“No, Sally.”

“But you… don’t like being around me when I have the collar on.”

“… I’m sorry,” he said, letting out a heavy breath. “I shouldn’t have acted like that around you. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Really?”

He nodded.

“So you don’t hate me?”

“Not at all.”

A small smile came to her face. At least she knew it wasn’t her… It was the collar. And she could understand why, considering what he had just told her. She wished she could take it off, but it was forbidden for slaves to take off their collars. But she also didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable and sad around her.

Breakdown seemed to notice she was debating with herself. Damn, she really was a sweet girl… He hated thinking about her time as a slave. She said she was always treated kindly, but he knew. He knew what her former masters made her do when she was only a child. Maybe she didn’t think it was all that bad, but he and Knock Out knew better. And they wouldn’t treat her like that. She deserved better than that.

He reached up and patted her head. Her eyes widened as her hands came up to grab his hand, but he pulled it away before she could, leaving her own hands to fall to her hair.

“I’m fine, Sally… I’m sorry I made you sad.”

She shook her head, slowly moving to stand up. “It’s okay… I’m just glad you don’t hate me.”

He just watched as she stood up and fixed her hair a bit. Seeing that she was reassured, he moved back to start working on the bath again.

“I’m gonna go make dinner… What would you like, Mister Breakdown?”

“I’m fine with anything.”

She smiled and nodded. Once she saw that he was starting to work against on the tiles, she turned around and skipped out of the bath towards the kitchen. At least now she understood things. Breakdown didn’t hate her. She didn’t do anything wrong. It was just her collar… She would have to make it up to him though, for making him think about such unpleasant things.

Since he didn’t want to have sex with her, maybe she could make his meal portions a little bigger. She had to do something… So she decided to start with one of his favorite meals. That should be a good first step to helping him be more comfortable around her. 


End file.
